Employees

Anne Gerd Imenes

Senior Researcher

Anne Gerd Imenes majored as Cand. Scient. in Environmental Physics at the Norwegian University of Life Science (UMB) in 1999, and holds a PhD degree in Applied Physics from the University of Sydney in 2006. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Solar Energy Centre of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Newcastle, Australia and worked briefly as a researcher there, before returning to Norway at the end of 2008. Anne Gerd has worked at Teknova since January 2009, and currently holds a part-time position in the Smart Instrumentation group. She is working at Teknovas location in Grimstad. Since 2017, she is also a professor in the Department of Engineering Sciences at the University of Agder.

Benyamin Akdemir

Technician

Designing and implementing microcontroller software for the HiNCube satellite.Designing and implementing hardware and software platform for UAV.Real-time operating system design for sensor synchronization.Image processing and pattern recognition.

Key competence within real-time embedded hardware and software development using C++. Broad work experience in microcontroller programming, application development for desktop and web, and GPU programming.Primary programming languages are C++, PHP, C#, Java, HTML5, JavaScript

Ellen Nordgård-Hansen

Senior Researcher

Senior researcher, Modelling and Simulation.PhD in modelling of aluminium electrolysis using nonequilibrium thermodynamics.Using multivariate calibration, Kalman filter and mpc controller to control a chemical process.Controlling waterfall discharge using first order step response model and Dahlin controller.Mapping of different solar cell production processes into materials tracking system.Designing, simulating and testing cooling concepts of varied types; forced air cooling, Peltier elements and different types of multiphase cooling.

Kristine Blanch

Finance manager

Cand. Mag. in Economics and English from the University of Agder. Executive MBA from Norwegian School of Economics(NHH Bergen).Key competence within finance, controlling, projects and contracts.Broad national and international work experience from the oil and gas industry.Knowledge and experience within the research institute sector, public funding programs and the academic environment.

Lisa Maria Svendsen

Researcher

Mads Fromreide

Researcher

Researcher, Modelling and Simulation.M.Sc. in physics from NTNU.Master’s thesis focused on detecting patterns of motion by a theory based on optimal paths, with applications to automatic navigation and traffic safety.Modelling and simulations of different physical processes.General background within applied science.

Manuel Sparta

Researcher

Nabil Belbachir

Chief Scientist

Chief Scientist, Smart Instrumentation.PhD in computer science under the thematic area of pattern analysis and machine intelligence.Smart cameras for application in industrial automation, safety & security, ambient assisted living and transport.Decision support systems by means of pattern analysis algorithms for a network of heterogeneous sensors.Embedded systems for local intelligence and efficient deployment in industrial applications.Senior project manager: Level-C certified under the International Project Management Association (IPMA).

Nadia Saad Noori

Senior Researcher Smart Instrumentation

Nadia’s background is in Computer and Control Systems Engineering. In addition to her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering (working on SCADA and distributed control systems), she also holds a master’s in applied science in Technology Innovation Management (working on open source platforms and innovation). She has 10 years combined experience in software engineering and in business and management. Nadia is Marie Skłodowska-Curie alumnus, she finished her PhD at LaSalle Ramon Llull University, Barcelona Spain, with specialization in operational research and coordination dynamics analysis using Graph Theory, Complex Networks and Discrete Events Systems (DES). Nadia came to Norway in 2017 as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Integrated Emergency Management (CIEM) to join the University of Agder family in Grimstad and work with the iTRACK project team.Nadia held several managerial positions in her home country, Iraq, and her second home country, Canada. She worked as a product manager at a non-for-profit, Coral CEA in Ottawa, Canada. She was also engaged as a software developer with Blindside Networks Inc., the company behind the BigBlueButton, an Open Source Web Conferencing project. Beside software and product development, she worked for few years as Director of Admin and Finance for a British company operating in Iraq (Baghdad and Kurdistan Region) Nadia’s different engagements in research and practice provided a rich environment to develop skills in managing personnel with different backgrounds, different ethnicities, and different cultures. Working in harsh operational environments like Iraq required flexibility and agility in the analysis and digesting of information for timely and effective decision-making. Working in Canada, required a different set of skills in project management, product development and software deployment & delivery.

Nora Stray

Researcher

Researcher, Modelling and Simulation.PhD in physics. Atmospheric dynamics.Modelling of electrodes for metallurgical processes, including development of user interface and software maintenance.Operational data analysis in the oil and gas sector.Statistical analysis of grid operation and distributed energy storage.Process modelling within thermodynamics, structural mechanics and fluid dynamics.

Rune Schlanbusch

Senior Researcher

Senior researcher, Smart Instrumentation.PhD in attitude and translational control of rigid bodies with focus on spacecraft synchronization and formations.Developing prognostics and health management system towards offshore drilling industry.Modeling and simulation studies for developing downhole drilling instrumentation.State and parameter estimation by Kalman filters for various applications.Developing techniques for scale-up of metallurgical industrial processes through modeling and analysis.

Thomas JJ Meyer

Business development manager

Born in France in the 80s, Thomas career started in the nuclear industry with an associated physico-chemistry education [1-2]. He then moved to England to pursue a BSc [3], master, PhD [4] in the field of photovoltaic energy. In 2010 he relocated in Norway and has been working since as a physicist and business development manager for youngest research institute in Norway, called Teknova.

Ulrik Thisted

Senior Researcher

Senior Researcher, Modelling and Simulation.PhD in magnetic and thermodynamic properties of superconductors.Casting and solidification processes.Process optimization in solar grade silicon production.Modelling of non-linear structural behaviour of steel structures.Construction and operation of a magneto-optic microscope.

Åge Vik Såghus

Researcher

Researcher, Smart Instrumentation.Cand. mag in social sciences, University of Oslo.Eyes for a robot – making decisions based on computer vision.Detecting position of rotating furnace – camera and software.Documentation and counting of objects from packing machine.Complete information and communication system for toll roads. Number plate reading, coin machines, ticket printing, and RFID card reading.